Adding items to ComboBox wpf which are always the same collection? - wpf

Question

I have a combobox declared in my xaml.
I have a ExtendedComboBoxItem : ComboBoxItem defined which has properties DisplayName and DisplayImage.
In my user control, I have a comboBox control where i defined a data template that is essentially a Image | TextBock
In code-behind, I ALWAYS ADD same 3 items to it, so I do something like:
List<ExtendedComboBoxItem > items = new List<ExtendedComboBoxItem >();
ExtendedComboBoxItem item1 = new ExtendedComboBoxItem ("A","imagePath");
ExtendedComboBoxItem item2 = new ExtendedComboBoxItem ("A","imagePath");
ExtendedComboBoxItem item3 = new ExtendedComboBoxItem ("A","imagePath");
items.Add(item1);
items.Add(item2);
items.Add(item3);
this.comboBox.ItemsSource = items;
Is there a XAML only way of doing the above or a better cleaner way to do this?
thanks!

Answer 1

I'm not 100% sure that this will work - there are some ifs and buts regarding the type you can put in the array: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms753379%28v=vs.110%29.aspx#Requirements_for_a_Custom_Class_as_a_XAML_Element .
You can set up an array in the Resources section of your XAML:
<Window.Resources>
<x:Array Type="mynamespace:ExtendedComboBoxItem"
x:Key="MyArray">
<mynamespace:ExtendedComboBoxItem MyProp1="A" MyProp2="imagePath" />
<mynamespace:ExtendedComboBoxItem MyProp1="A" MyProp2="imagePath" />
<mynamespace:ExtendedComboBoxItem MyProp1="A" MyProp2="imagePath" />
</x:Array>
</Window.Resources>
...
<ComboBox ItemsSource="{StaticResource MyArray}" />

Answer 2

You can define a DataTemplate for the Items in the combobox, Refer below code.
<ComboBox x:Name="cbo">
<ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal">
<Image Source="{Binding DisplayImage}"/>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding DisplayName}"/>
</StackPanel>
</DataTemplate>
</ComboBox.ItemTemplate>
</ComboBox>
public partial class MainWindow : Window
{
public MainWindow()
{
InitializeComponent();
ObservableCollection<ComboItem> combolst = new ObservableCollection<ComboItem>();
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++)
{
combolst.Add(new ComboItem() { DisplayName = "Name" + i, DisplayImage = "Icon.png" });
}
cbo.ItemsSource = combolst;
}
}
public class ComboItem
{
public string DisplayName { get; set; }
public string DisplayImage { get; set; }
}